Cooker.



my MI, WEN 1-1 9 1 .l am I H m IJ e S w H DU M. vm D1 mQ COOKER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-281 l 9l4.

W. J. SCHAEFER.

amet.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that T, WILLIAM J. SOHAEFER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ontario, in, the county of San Bernardino and State of California, have invented a new and useful Cooker, of which the following is a specification. q

This invention relates to apparatus for cooking fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, etc., contained in cans, 'while such cans are in transit through the-apparatus, so as to provide for continuous receiving, cookin'g and' delivering operation on a line of cans, and

the main object of the invention is to enable temperature as to make the operation impracticable on account of the expense and other objections. This difliculty ll overcome by transmitting the heat, or a portion thereof, to the interior of the can,'by conduction from a heatedbo dy or support on which'the can travels, the can being in conductive contact with such support, so as'to greatly increase the, rapidity with which the heat will pass from the heating pipe or source of heat, to the can, as compared with the usual methods of transmission by convection and radiation. I

The accompanying drawings illustrate embodiments of my invention, and referring.

theretoi Figure l'is a side elevation of the cooker, partly in section. Fig. 2'is an 'end elevation thereoflpartlyin section. Fig. 3 is a plan view ofa portion of the track means and;

the heating means therefor. Fig. 4 is a detail section of one of the screw, conveyor and track means, and the heating means associated therewith. Fig. 5' is" a. section of another: -form of the trackand heating means; Fig. 6 is a sectionofa form of the invention'in which the heating pipe'is'useol I Specification of Letters Patent;

WILLIAM J'LSGHAEFJ ER, F ONTARIO, CALIFORNIA.

COOKER.

as 'thetrack means. Fig. 7 is an end elevat1on of the apparatus,

moved, to show the .transfer mechanism. *F1g. .8- 1s a partial longitudinal .section showlng the transfer means.

y invention is illustrated inconnection with the form of cooker disclosed in my Patent N 0. 1,044,822, dated Nov. 19, 1912, but it will be understood that it is applicable 1n connection with any form of continuous cooker, wherein the cans. are caused to move contmuously along a supporting track.

1 indicates the casing of-the apparatus, in which are .mounted a series of conveyers comprising substantially horizontal shafts 2, arranged in pairs, the shafts of eachpair belng provided with oppositely winding.

. screw flanges 3 and extending on opposite sldes of a track means 4. Bearlngs 8 are provided to engage and support the screw conveyers at intervals along the same. Said track means 4: is shown in Fig. 1 as consisting of'a flat'rail, supported on the bearings 8; Below each track means'is provided a heating pipe,5,'which is in conductive contact with said track, and is preferably embedded or set into'the track-rail so as to be in effective heat conductive relation therethe rail 4 may be.

with. For this purpose formed with a channel 4 in its lower face, partially embracing or fitting on ,the heating pipe 5. 'The'several pipes are connected at opposite ends thereof respectively to headers 6 and .7, which are connected respectively to a steam supply header 6 and to an outlet header 7 for carrying away'or circulating the heating medium.- The screw conveyer shafts 2 are driven by any suitable means, for example by bevel gears '9 thereon, meshing with bevel' gears 10 on shafts I1, driven by "gearing 12 and 13 from'a' driving shaft'14. In order to provide sufficient heating capacity, the heating ,and conveying units consisting of the above described tracks and' screw conveyers are preferably arranged in stacks-or vertical sets, and means are provided for transferring the cans from. each conveyer to the next conveyor 'of'the Iset, said means consisting, for example, of star wheels 16 working'within guides 17 whereby the cans [are received from the delivery endof each veyer.

v Patented Sept. 5, 1916. Application fildDecember 28, 1914. Serial No. 879,257.

conveyer' and lifted to the next higher con-.

Means are also shown for transferring the cans from the final conveyer of the first" set, to the first conveyer of the next set.

i 25, and the star wheels 16 may For this purpose there is provided, preferably at one end of the apparatus, a guide or way formed for example of rails 18 and 19 mounted on yokes 20, and screw conveyers 21 mounted adjacent to said rails, so as to engage the cans as they are delivered to such way, and carry them along the way. This guideway extends obliquely or diago nally from the delivery end of the top conv'eyer of one bottom conveyer of the next set. The shafts 21 of screw conveyers 21 are driven from the gearing connections '13 through gearing also be driven from the same gearing connections through gearing 26. The casing 1 is provided wlth an inlet 22 through which the cans are fed to the first conveyer of the first set, and

' with an outlet 23 through which the cans are discharged from the last conveyer of the last set. A chute 34 and feedwheel 35 may be provided at theinlet. I

Additional heating means may be provided, comprising pipes 24 extending parallel to the tracks 4, so as to heat the cans by radiation and convection, while the track pipes 5 are heating the cans by conduction. These pipes 24 may be connected to the headers 6 and 7 aforesaid. If further heating is required, a steam supply pipe 23 may beprovided at the lower part of casing 1,

having perforations 28" for supply of steam into'the interior of casing 1; and in order to superheat such steam, a steam heater may be provided, consisting of'pipes 30 extending over the steam supply pipe or pipes 28 and connected at their ends to inlet and outlet headers 31 and 32.

The operation of the cooker is as follows: The cans are fed in through the inlet 22 and are'moved along the track 4 of the lowermost con'veyerof the first set by the action of the screw conveyer members 3, and are then transferred to the next higher conveyer by the star wheel 16 at the delivery end of the first conveyer'. The second conveyer moves the cans back along the next track above, and the operation proceeds in this manner until the cans reach the delivery end of the highest conveyer of. the first set,

whence they are transferred, by operation of screw conveyers 21, to the lowermost conveyer of the second set,'and are then fed through the second set in similai' manner and discharged. at outlet 23. In passing along the series of track rails 4', the' cans -are heated by conduction of heat, through the metal of the rails, directly from heating pipes 5, to the-cans, the gther pipes 24 aiding the operation ofheating meanst by applying heat by radiation and conduction, v to all parts of the-cans; and the steam arisset, to the receiving end of the ing from the steam supply pipe 28 and heat ed by the pipes 30, further aiding in the heating operation. I have found that by the use of direct conduction in the manner a above described, I am enabled to apply or actual cooking temperature on the goods in the cans. This enables the goods to be cooked more quickly, which is of great advantage, particularly in cooking fruit, as it preserves the flavor of the fruit better.

The form of track shown in Fig. 1 is particularly adapted to shallow cans, such as fish cans. In .case high cans, such as fruit cans,

are to be heated, the track rail may be made as a-T rail as shown at 37 in Fig. 5, and

' the heating pipes 5 may be mounted in the angles of the Ts, so as to be .in contact with the'rails. Or, as shown in Fig. 6, the heating pipe may itself be used as the track. I prefer, however, to provide a flat track for the canto roll on, as it gives' a better conductive contact for the can with the track.

What I claim is:

1. A cooker comprising a casing, track means extending therein and adapted to support a line of cans, means for moving the cans along said track means, heating pipes extending into said casing and adjacent to 'said track means in conductive relation thereto, and means for supplying heating medium to the interior of the casing,.in contact with the cans therein.

2. -A cooker comprising a casing, track means extending therein and adapted to support a line of cans, means for moving the cans along said track means, heating pipes extending below and in contact with said track means for heating the cans by conduction, heatingbipes extending within the casing and over the track means to heat the cans by radiation'and means for supplying heating medium to'the interior of the casing, in contact with the cans therein.

3. A cooker comprising a casing adapted to contain a heating medium, means for supplying heating medium thereto, a plurality of superposed tracks in said casing, means for conveylng a. line of cans successively along said tracks, heatin pipes extending under and in contact with the respective ,tracks, to heat the-cans on such tracks, by

conduction, andto heat the cans on tracks below the same, by radiation.

4. A cooker comprising a casing, track means extending within said casing, means for conveying aline of cans along said track means, means for sup lying heating medium to said casing to lxeat the cans therein by'contact ofsaid heating medium with said cans, and pipes extending in conductive relation to said track means to heat,

the cans by conduction through said track means.

5. A cooker comprising a casing, means for supplying steam to thelower part thereof, heating pipes extending above said steam supply means to superheat the steam rising therefrom, can conveying means extending over theaforesaid pipes, pipes extending adj acent to the respective'can conveying means and adapted to apply heat to the cans by conduction.

' 6. A cooker comprising a casing, meansrails extending therein and adapted to support a line of cans, heatingpipes in contact 9 with said track rails, and conveyer means 10- cated alongside the track rails and having can engaging portions for moving the cans along the track rails.

.8. A cooker comprising acasing, can conveying means therein, heating pipes within the casing extending in heat conducting relation with the cans on the conveying means, v to apply heat to the can by direct conduction, and other heating pipes within the casing to supply heat to thecans by radiation and convection.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, at Los Angeles, California, this 16th day of December 1914.

WILLIAM J. scHAE FEa.

Witnesses:

A. JP. KNIGHT, OSCAR E. WINBURN. 

